[Distribution Hot People] "Why do it on home shopping? I know the answer to that business"

Lotte Homeshopping's 'Women Talent Development Program' Led by
Kim Yong-woo, Assistant Manager of Lotte Homeshopping Win-Win Growth Team

Job Seekers' Employment + Partner Companies' Talent Acquisition, Catching Two Rabbits
Unique Satisfaction When Each Rebuilds Their Career in Their Own Place
"Content Combination Program Upgraded This Year"

"Out of a total of 318 graduates, 213 succeeded in finding employment." The employment rate reaches about 70%. This is the achievement of Lotte Homeshopping's women's talent development program 'Sangsaeng Iljari,' which has been operated since 2018. At the center of this project is Deputy Manager Kim Yong-woo of Lotte Homeshopping's Win-Win Growth Team, who has been leading it since its launch.

Kim Yong-woo, Deputy Manager of the Win-Win Growth Team at Lotte Homeshopping [Photo by Lotte Homeshopping].

In his second year working at Lotte Homeshopping and when he first took charge of the Sangsaeng Iljari project in 2018, Deputy Manager Kim saw the issue of women's talent job scarcity only in the news. However, once recruitment for trainees began, he quickly realized the reality. There were many cases where graduates from prestigious overseas fashion schools struggled to find jobs due to lack of practical experience, and cases where candidates fluent in the local language and knowledgeable in their specialized fields faced repeated rejections because available positions did not match their skills. Conversely, companies often posted job openings on recruitment sites but failed to find the talent they wanted. Deputy Manager Kim said, "I feel a special sense of fulfillment when employment is achieved through the Lotte Homeshopping Sangsaeng Iljari program by matching the abilities of job seekers with the talent profiles desired by hiring companies."

Deputy Manager Kim cited the program’s differentiated strength as the ability for employees who serve as instructors to exchange real-time information about work and employment with trainees. He said, "Typical employment support programs provide job training to 100 to 200 trainees, making it difficult to address individual questions easily, but the Lotte Homeshopping Sangsaeng Iljari program forms classes of 20 to 30 people, allowing direct communication with instructors who are currently working in the field." He also emphasized that the curriculum includes practical help such as distribution job training by industry experts, employment consulting, and partner company interviews.

One course that receives particularly positive feedback from trainees is a presentation project where they apply what they learned over four weeks by taking the perspective of partner companies and proposing products to distribution MDs. Teams of four intensely deliberate from product selection to proposal methods and go through the entire process of logically presenting their proposals. Deputy Manager Kim explained that they have received multiple feedbacks that trainees grew significantly through this experience. This experience has been a great help in actual employment and subsequent job duties. The job fair 'Job Festival,' held after the training, also serves as a gateway for recruitment. At last year’s event, 25 excellent partner companies of Lotte Homeshopping and 100 female job seekers participated.

Kim Yong-woo, Deputy Manager of the Win-Win Growth Team at Lotte Homeshopping [Photo by Lotte Homeshopping].

Deputy Manager Kim said that when he sees trainees adapting well in their respective positions and continuing their careers impressively, and when they contact him saying, "I will treat you with my first paycheck," he feels deeply moved and finds great meaning in his work. The Sangsaeng Iljari program, which has been conducted up to the 7th term, is preparing for its 8th term in the second half of this year. Kim said, "The 8th term of Sangsaeng Iljari will transition into an educational program combined with 'content,'" adding, "Since media content is a hot topic in the industry, we anticipate increased demand in this field. If talents in distribution utilize content, I believe employment can be achieved at 200%."

In the endemic era, the program aims to switch from a hybrid online-offline education format to 100% offline education and strengthen networking between current trainees and previous graduates. They also plan to accumulate diverse experiences by jointly attending various fairs with hiring partners or distribution sites. After completing the training, visits to advanced overseas distribution markets and global content-related fairs are also being considered. The Job Festival is also under review to be conducted as a preview event where content portfolios can be showcased to companies seeking to hire.

Deputy Manager Kim said, "I believe we were able to achieve these results by changing the framework of youth job projects, which were mainly focused on manufacturing, and applying it to the distribution industry," adding, "My personal goal is to discover new businesses in areas where the company excels, beyond the limits of home shopping and distribution industries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.